The next generation of collectors emerges using new tools to find material. The challenge is to encourage acquirers to buy at auction. They buy on eBay because it's perceived cheap, online because the listings are extensive, at shows and shops because human interaction is comfortable, and at garage sales because “you never know.” Auctions are perceived as more serious, more complicated, the material more difficult to identify, the opportunities fleeting. The challenge for auction houses is to create better visibility and a sense of continuity with collectors. Auctions aren't single sales, they are a cascade of continuing events.
To encourage this transition and to help ensure there are enough bidders and buyers to match with the extraordinary volume of material that comes to market over the next ten years we are shifting the emphasis on AE to include both a more powerful real time presentation of upcoming material and a mechanism for capturing fleeting and continuing interests in specific items in a easy way that will permit they who sell to better understand how much interest there is in particular material. To do this we are beginning to add links for all who use our databases, whether free or paid, to be able to track specific items, whether in an upcoming auction, Books for Sale or the AED, and to then request specific outcomes and/or continue to follow future reappearances. Individuals may track up to 5,000 items. Confirmation of continuing interest is required every six months to maintain access to the free service.
